Rhubarb Jam Recipe (Easiest and Quickest)
This rhubarb jam recipe, is the easiest ever! Not only that, if you’re a rhubarb lover, this is the jam for you! There’s none of that pesky ginger (or even strawberries) to mask one of the best flavors in the world.
Rhubarb jam will make you a fan of rhubarb, if you are yet to be sold on this pink stalked vegetable. If I had to choose, rhubarb is definitely one of my top 10 foods/flavors.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Disclosure: I received rhubarb from Frieda’s Produce with no strings attached. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC regulations.
Maybe it’s because it’s something I absolutely loved as a child. (FYI, it is not a fruit, but a vegetable.) In Scotland, my mother grew rhubarb in our garden, then she’d pull a stalk for me, cut off the leaf, and wash it. Then she’d give it to me (as is) with a little sugar to dip it in. I still love rhubarb this way!
A few weeks ago, after not being able to find rhubarb in the grocery store where I most often find it, I almost gave up all hope. I thought it was another year without rhubarb and I was so very sad. Until I spoke with a friend who had “rhubarb connections”, however, all the rhubarb was spoken for.
But wait, there was more–yes, more rhubarb coming in! A 20 lb box, she said, and asked how much I wanted. I said, “I’ll take whatever you want to give me!”, meaning that I’d be happy with just one pound at that point. However, the next message floored me: “20 lbs it is then!”
OMG, you have NO idea how happy I was!
Suffice it to say that there are more rhubarb recipes on the way, this being the first, but I have added many classics, like this rhubarb tart (with or without meringue).
The rhubarb arrived and it was absolutely perfect!
I froze some, made some compote, some tarts, and even some dried rhubarb chips, thanks to my friend Jill at Mad About Macarons. I highly recommend making these as they are simply marvelous! Everyone who tasted them fell in love with them.
Back to the jam: I used natural pectin in this recipe as it’s so much easier than messing with citrus pits and waiting, and that whole lengthy process. This has been one of the best jams I’ve ever made. I sent a little to my parents and my mother flipped (that’s huge)!
And if you are more organized and like to give lovely specimens of jam away, you may like these French jam jars!
Rhubarb crumble ice cream is a dream!
Easiest Rhubarb Jam Recipe
Recipe loosely based on Sure-Jell’s basic jam recipe Makes about 8, 8 oz jars
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
- rhubarb
- sugar
- lemon juice
- natural pectin
Special equipment: clean jam jars with lids.
Put a saucer in the freezer.
Heat rhubarb and lemon juice over medium heat.
Increase the heat and boil for 10 minutes. Add pectin and boil for another 10 minutes.
Now add the sugar and boil for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until a little jam congeals when dripped onto the saucer from the freezer.
Boil some water to rinse the jars and lids just before filling them. Pour hot jam into the jars using a wide-mouth funnel and close immediately. Process in a water bath if you want to follow the FDA regulations for jam-making.
You can let otherwise, let the jars cool and then keep them in the fridge if you’re concerned about them sealing properly. Each jar should make a pop, and the middle of the lid will be concave once sealed.
Then all there is to do is reap the rewards of the easiest rhubarb jam recipe, ever! Try making no knead bread to put the jam on. You’ll be in heaven!
If only you could smell this, too!
Sooooo good. And the color is absolutely stunning!
And if you’re really willing to live dangerously, this incredibly delectable rhubarb and custard cake recipe is yours to try, from Emma at Mason Kitchen! I’m dying to make it, but have to wait until this heat wave ends!
Easiest Rhubarb Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 lbs rhubarb chopped
- 4 lbs sugar
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1.75 oz natural pectin
Instructions
- Put a saucer in the freezer.
- Heat rhubarb and lemon juice over medium heat.
- Increase the heat and boil for 10 minutes. Add pectin and boil for another 10 minutes.
- Now add the sugar and boil for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until a little jam congeals on the saucer (from the freezer).
- Boil some water to rinse the jars and lids just before filling them. Pour hot jam into the jars and close immediately.
- You can let the jars cool and keep in the fridge or process them so that they're safely sealed.
Nutrition
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Amazing recipe, so easy. I used liquid pectin which worked perfectly. I just got the rhubarb from the allotment and cooked your recipe immediately. I’d have loved to add a photo but there’s no option unfortunately. Many thanks
Love to hear it, Beverly! You can always add a photo to Instagram and tag me, or to my Facebook Food and Travel page. Would love it if you could click on the 5 stars to rate the recipe (above the PRINT button on the recipe page). Thanks so much!
Does the recipe call for 4 pounds of rhubarb before, or after, it is chopped?
That’s the beauty of using weight vs volume: it’s always the same. It’s 4 lbs before being chopped and 4 lbs after it’s chopped. :)
Another question. I’m from Canada and our liquid pectin comes in 85 ml packets. Is the 1.75 oz packet in the recipe, 1.75 fluid ounces or 1.75 ounces by weight? My 85 ml packet weighs 3.3 ounces.
Hi Sue, the natural pectin I linked to (which I used) is a powder. How much fruit does it say it is for on the pkg? I’d use that as a guide on how much to use in my recipe. Enjoy!
Hi. Is it okay to use larger jars for this? Like 12 oz jars?
Absolutely!!
I was shocked by the amount of sugar in this recipe, too. I checked other recipes after seeing the way you reacted to anyone who questioned the amount, but didn’t find any other recipes that had that much. The rhubarb/sugar ratio in the recipes I saw were 4 pounds rhubarb/4 cups sugar; 2 pounds/2 cups; 2 pounds/2.25 cups; 1.75 pound/1.5 cup, etc. The amounts varied some, but the common theme was that the number of CUPS of sugar was the same or nearly the same as the number of POUNDS of rhubarb.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m sure some people prefer a version that is sweeter than the traditional tart recipes.
I don’t know what recipes you’re looking at, but they’re probably not rhubarb. Stacy, the difference is that rhubarb is SOUR. I was born in the UK and our recipes there have significantly less sugar than US recipes for cakes, cookies, pastries, etc. That said, this jam is not too sweet at all, even for a British palate.
Without tasting this jam, I think it’s unfair to say it’s sweeter than other jams made using sweet fruit like strawberries and peaches, for example. The readers who have made it say they just love it (see the reviews.) I stand by this recipe as it’s written.
Here is another rhubarb jam recipe (with ginger) by an award-winning jam maker in the UK. You’ll see here ratio for rhubarb to sugar is also 1:1. If I made the recipe for 1 lb of rhubarb and 1 lb of sugar, no one would be shocked.
I have been making rhubarb jam for many, many years. I make it mostly for our Church bazaar (no bazaar this year) and to give as gifts. Makes a lovely little hostess gift. I guess I give myself more work than necessary because I always steralize my jars in the oven, boil the rings, use new tops every time and always process it after it is put in the jar.
That’s the “proper” way to make jam, but no one in my family does this. I don’t think I’d ever make jam if I had to do all that extra work; it’s more than making the actual jam.